Between Breaths

A Memoir of Panic and Addiction

"A no-holds-barred memoir of anxiety, addiction, and recovery, from beloved ABC 20/20 anchor Elizabeth Vargas. Vargas discusses her accounts of growing up with anxiety-which began suddenly at the age of six when her father served in Vietnam-and how she dealt with this anxiety as she came of age, to her eventually turning to alcohol for relief. She tells of how she found herself living in denial, about the extent of her addiction and keeping her dependency a secret for so long. "

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Vargus shares a very raw insight into the challenges that consume those who struggle with addiction & mental illness. Her fight demonstrates the reality of being a work in progress and affirms that becoming healthy may mean one may fall multiple times but no matter how hard it may be you get back up.

Good book giving insight into how the rich can fuck up, too. I think she is great for writing the book. She really did have some hard times there. I would like to meet her sometime, just to give her some praise. This book is an easy read, and I would recommend it to anyone that wants to learn more about alcoholism without going to those depressing meetings.

Although many reviewers focus almost exclusively on Elizabeth Vargas' tale of addiction and recovery, I found this book particularly helpful for understanding high-functioning anxiety. Ms. Vargas explains very clearly and openly what it is like to outwardly appear to have it all together, while inwardly feel as though any minute someone will realize she doesn't really belong there. Anyone who struggles with anxiety, addiction, or both, will find comfort in this story because it shows that you are not alone. Readers who don't struggle with these particular trials will find value in this book as a way of understanding what it's like for the large segment of the population, undoubtedly including someone close to you, who struggle with high-functioning anxiety or addiction (or both).

I found this book to be very insightful, giving you a glimpse in to the world of a person with an alcohol addiction. Too often do we think of alcoholics as "bums on a park bench" when more often than not that is not the case, with Elizabeth Vargas being a great example of a high functioning alcoholic.

Chances are if you're reading this book you have a problem with alcohol, or know some who does. If you're looking for help in the Durham community Pinewood Center which is part of Lakeridge Health is a great place to start. There is also Renascent in Brooklin, along with many local 12-step meetings in Durham every day of the week.

If you are struggling there is help out there, you just have to reach out and ask for it. Unless you are extremely lucky, you likely can't do it on your own. Fortunately, you don't have to.

This book has little value for the "average" recovering person (such as me) - her financial status allows her to jet off at a moment's notice several times to hugely expensive, lengthy stay treatment centres (author's biggest complaint -one has LINOLEUM! on the floor), paying her nanny to take care of her children. So not the norm particularly for women at the beginning of addiction recovery.
There appears to be no empathy for other struggling alcoholics; she seems still self-centred, blaming others You might enjoy it if you like reading lifestyles of the rich and famous.
I found it shallow.